The New England Patriots have dominated the 21st century NFL by every known measure.

Comes now another measure of the 21st century, that is less known. And – what do you know? – the Patriots dominate by that measure, too.

Since we began tracking the traveling championship in the NFL with the start of the 2000 season, the Patriots have owned it like no other team. As our standings of the top 10 NFL teams historically shows, the Patriots have won 44 Ear of Corn games, well ahead of the San Diego Chargers, who are next with 18 wins.The Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers all have 17 wins all-time.

The Patriots didn't play for the ear in 2016, and it didn't hurt them one bit in these standings. The Patriots probably could lose every game they play for the ear for the next 15 years and still remain on top.

The Patriots last won it on Feb. 1, 2015, the day of Super Bowl XLIX, defeating the Seattle Seahawks, 28-24. Then, taking the prize to the 2015 regular season, the Patriots defended it 10 straight times before losing it, 30-24, in overtime to the Denver Broncos in Denver on Nov. 29, 2015.

Winning 11 straight Ear of Corn games was nothing new for the Patriots. They also won 11 straight from Dec. 2, 2001 to Sept. 29, 2002. That streak began with a 17-16 win against the New York Jets at New York and ended with a 21-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers.

The Patriots also had a 10-game winning streak for the prize during the 2007 season, when they took a perfect record to Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants. The Giants won that game, 17-14.

Thus began a 12-game Ear of Corn winning streak for the Giants, before they finally lost it on Dec. 7, 2008, in a 20-14 home field loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

But none of those is the all-time longest winning streak for the Ear of Corn. That distinction belongs to the Green Bay Packers. Starting with a 31-25 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6, 2010, the Packers won 14 straight before succumbing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 19-14, in Kansas City on Dec. 18, 2011.

Nor do the Patriots hold the all-time record for Ear of Corn championships. The Patriots have won six of them, tied for third all-time with the Vikings, Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers. The Seattle Seahawks are second historically with seven traveling titles. The Oakland Raiders are the all-time leader with eight.

In the top 10 standings given here, you will notice that the Raiders are not included. It seems peculiar that a team that has won the most titles ever wouldn't be one of the best ten teams of all time.

A peculiarity, perhaps, of the Ear of Corn. Though the Raiders have won as many such championships as any other NFL team, they are, arguably, the worst team ever playing for this prize.

Well, maybe not the worst. The Cleveland Browns (0-3 in Ear of Corn games), Chicago Bears (0-3), Baltimore Ravens (0-4) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5) have never won it.

But the Raiders have stumbled much more often than not. Their overall record in Ear of Corn games is 12-18, giving them the most all time losses, barely more than the Jets (6-17). The Raiders have only successfully defended the prize four times after eight championships.

Thus, the Raiders are 4-8 as an Ear of Corn champion and 4-10 as an Ear of Corn challenger.

Following are the Ear of Corn results for the NFL in all three that are tracked – the NFL, the AFC and the NFC. The results for other seasons can be found here.

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About LA Big Leagues

Bill Peterson is an award winning journalist who has covered sports around the country for more than 30 years, including Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and major collegiate sports for daily newspapers and major wire services. His longest stint was with The Cincinnati Post from 1986-1998. He also has worked at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Miami Herald. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Sporting News and Baseball America, among other publications. He later produced successful public interest newspapers and websites in the Austin/San Antonio area. Peterson is a lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, formerly with a vote for the Hall of Fame. He can be contacted by email at bill@labigleagues.com.